All Chapters of The Dust-Covered Empty Seat: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I was holding a pack of ibuprofen as I stood before Eleanor Reid’s apartment. The door was not shut tightly, and I could hear Eleanor’s stuffy voice as she chuckled. “You rushed over this late at night. Isn’t your project in North City important? Are you really going to stay in South City?” Theo Anderson answered without any hesitation. “It’s not that important. You’re alone and have a high fever. I’m worried about you, so I’ve submitted my request to be transferred to South City. We no longer have to be apart in the future.” Eleanor said happily, “If Lydia found out about this, she would be over the moon.” “I only care about your happiness.” My fingernails dug into the plastic bag handles, and it left a white mark against my palm. Three years ago, I had begged him to stay with me when I received the news that my mother was in a critical condition. He had only grabbed his suitcase and left without looking back. “Lydia, you know how important this promotion is to me. I

The smile on Theo’s face faded. “Just because of a bangle? Lydia, when did you become so calculative?”“That’s right, it’s just a bangle!” Eleanor said as she frantically tried to take it off. “Lydia, don’t be angry. I’ll take it off now. You can’t ruin your nine-year relationship because of me.” She was rushing, so the bangle left a red mark on her wrist. She started tearing up. Theo grabbed her hand. “Why are you taking it off? You didn’t do anything wrong. Eleanor’s still sick. Why are you humiliating her in public?”I could no longer stay there. I turned around and ran out. I heard everyone gossiping in the room. “This young lady has quite a bit of a temper.”“That’s right. It’s normal for men to have other lovers. She should just look the other way sometimes.” Eleanor said worriedly, “Theo, you should chase after her. Lydia’s angry now, I’m worried something might happen to her.” Theo snorted. “I’ve been with her for nine years. She’s thirty now. Aside from me, who

Theo sent Eleanor to the hospital, and the doctor said she was fine. Eleanor leaned against the hospital bed frame. “Theo, I’m fine. If Lydia’s not happy about this, I don’t want the house. Don’t ruin your relationship because of me.” Theo comforted her. “It’s just a house. She’s the one who injured you. Once she thinks it through and has had enough of the cold shoulder from me, she will come back and apologize.”I was with him for nine years. He did not think that I would go anywhere else since I had always tolerated his wrongdoings and returned to his side. A young nurse, Sage Harold, walked in with a tray and started to change Eleanor’s dressings. Sage’s gaze paused on Theo’s face for a few seconds. Then, she looked at his phone that he had simply put on the bedside cabinet. The phone screen was lit up. The wallpaper was a photo of him and me. “Are you Lydia’s boyfriend?” Sage suddenly asked. Theo was momentarily stunned. “Yes, do you know her?”Sage became a bit rou

I had rented an apartment with a balcony in the new city. There was a bakery downstairs, and every morning I woke up to the smell of butter. Two months had passed since I left South City.I switched to a new number and threw my old broken SIM card in the airport’s trash can. It was as if I had completely reset my life. It was so peaceful and calm. Xander would update me about the news back in South City through scheduled emails. [Ms. Scott, they’ve already refunded the one million dollars to you.][Besides, Theo has personally deposited two million dollars into your bank account with a reference note: compensation.]Someone rang my doorbell. The doorman wheeled a huge dustproof storage box into my apartment. “Ms. Scott, you’ve received an urgent delivery from South City. The postage fee is terribly high.”I sliced through the tape, and inside the box was the seventeenth wedding gown that I had tried on. There was a handwritten card placed on top of the gown. It was

I tapped on the photo. In one of the photos, Theo was wearing a crumpled shirt as he stood in a messy kitchen. Pieces of a shattered pot were scattered across the floor. There was chicken noodle soup splattered all over the kitchen and a huge blister on the back of his hand. The wound looked terrifying. In another photo, he was sitting in a watch shop. [The watch you gave Mr. Anderson was no longer working, so he brought it to a shop to fix it.][The shopkeeper told him that it was a limited-edition watch that’s no longer in production, so he couldn’t purchase any parts.][He also looked into your purchase history and noticed that you had pawned the gold necklace that your mother had left you to buy this watch.]When I read the email, I felt nothing. The watch was no longer working, and he had spilled chicken noodle soup all over the floor. It seemed like he had finally realized what he had lost. Immediately after, I received another email. [Lydia, Mr. Anderson went to t